bass through an ad30htc

mouldi101 · Post by **mouldi101** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:16 pm

anyone ever tried running a bass through an ad30htc? its just that i seem to have found myself without a bass amp with a gig in a weeks time (i dont usually play bass)... is it likely to do it any damage or would it be far safer to try to aquire a proper bass amp over the next 7 days?

cheers,

mouldi101

Andy H. · Post by **Andy H.** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:53 pm

I'd get looking to be honest mouldi101!
A. 30 watts won't be very loud for bass.
B. 30 watts really won't be loud enough for bass.
C. 30 watts just won't cut it for bass!
Not for a gig. Not even for most rehearsals to be honest. You get the idea...

No, you shouldn't do the amp any damage at all using it for bass, but guitar speakers are another matter, not being used to that sort of low frequency punishment.

Try and blag a more powerful bass amp, with proper bass speaker(s). How about any other bands playing the same gig? Worth speaking nicely to them. Doesn't matter too much for bass if they don't have a valve amp. Who knows - something like a Peavey combo or head/cab might be available, which would do the trick fine.
Good luck,

Andy.

Edited by - Andy H. on 14 Sep 2004 16:54:08

Meole · Post by **Meole** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:03 pm

As long as you use a bass cabinet to hook to the AD30HTC everything should be fine.
You will kill your guitar speakers if you play bass through them.
Just as Andy said. A lot of wattage is needed to pump out those lows, 30 watts is small.
O.k. for practise or recording, but not for gigging.

sambulance · Post by **sambulance** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:25 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Who knows - something like a Peavey combo or head/cab might be available, which would do the trick fine.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

almost every bass player i know has a 'spare' peavey cab and head thats just 'lying around' - kinda suspicious actually... they give you that totally average, five out of ten, sound

one bass player i know actually has four identical unmarked speaker cabinets with one 15" speaker (+tweeter?!) in each, im pretty sure theyre actually all blown too. Its amazing the atrocious sounds that bass players get away with as long as everyone can feel the floor move!

macahan · Post by **macahan** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:34 pm

i have a peavey cab lying around.
a 1516 cab.. 1x15 + 2x8's it's black widows in it.

i sounds.. BAD and it's broken in he electronics.. AND im getting rid of that one..

my ad200 sounds amazing..
fender jazzbass - Orange AD200#51 - ampeg 8x10

sambulance · Post by **sambulance** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:43 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
i have a peavey cab lying around.
a 1516 cab.. 1x15 + 2x8's it's black widows in it.

i sounds.. BAD and it's broken in he electronics.. AND im getting rid of that one..
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

see this is exactly what i mean, its very suspicious...

did the cab just appear in a back room one day? do you even have any knowledge of where it came from? i have asked other bass players and they just kind of give this blank stare

i think peavey are up to something

Post by **bclaire** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:44 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
anyone ever tried running a bass through an ad30htc? its just that i seem to have found myself without a bass amp with a gig in a weeks time (i dont usually play bass)... is it likely to do it any damage or would it be far safer to try to aquire a proper bass amp over the next 7 days?<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

One gig- as long as you do the following, you'll be fine I bet.

Play through a bass cab as has already been said.

Get a bass DI and have it run through the sound system as well. The 30 ends up being more your onstage reference sound with the DI getting the sound out front.

But don't expect volumes of sound- if the 30 is the only source for bass, you run the risk of not being heard...

Billy

macahan · Post by **macahan** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:09 pm

yeah.. i bought the cab with a head.. i sold the head last year..
so atleas i know where it came from..

my ad200 sounds amazing..
fender jazzbass - Orange AD200#51 - ampeg 8x10

Andy H. · Post by **Andy H.** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:26 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>Its amazing the atrocious sounds that bass players get away with as long as everyone can feel the floor move!<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>I'd go along with that. I HATE boomy thuddy bass sounds with no definition.

Having said that I've used 210 and 410 Peavey cabs with my Orange head many times to really good effect. I like them, and I'm not alone. They have definitely done some good gear and some pretty iffy gear over the years, but the good stuff is used by many many semi pro and not a few fully pro musicians.

I strongly suspect that what happens to a lot of cabs is that people have thrashed solid state amps through them. When you 'clip' a SS amp, ie distort the power amp section, suddenly the poor speaker cones find themselves sitting fully in or fully out for a large proportion of the time - literally. Unlike a distorting valve amp, with SS the signal you get is largely fully positive or fully -ve, with not much time in between. The cones are 'hard on the blocks' instead of travelling in and out, the voice coils get hotter and hotter - 3,2,1... blown speaker!

By doing this a solid state amp can easily blow speakers well above the amps rated output. And lets face it, cheap gear gets thrashed. Doesn't necessarily mean the gear was faulty or badly designed. Just that it was built to a price and abused in a way it couldn't handle. If you don't know the history of a bit of gear since day one there are no guarantees that someone along the line hasn't hammered it, even once.

I'm not saying that Peavey is anything other then cost effective gear, and only mentioned it because it's probably the most frequently seen bass gear, in my experience anyway, and could sometime see you through a gig you might otherwise have to blow...

As Billy says you could DI, if there is a decent PA that'll handle more then just vocals.

Andy.

mouldi101 · Post by **mouldi101** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:54 am

never really considered putting it through the pa before, i think it should handle it (its going to have a few triggered kick drum samples run through it as well as vocals and my beloved waldorf microwave)... ill just have to furnish myself with a limiter now so they let me run bass through it!

on the other hand i've found the guitarist in the other band is in need of a guitar amp for the evening, so im sure i could swap for they're bass amp on the night... temporarily of course!

oh why do i keep buying instruments without amplification? i think a proper bass amp is on the cards before i set my sights on anything else...

sambulance · Post by **sambulance** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:12 pm

the thing about putting drums thru is that they are pretty transient, which apparently means it doesnt matter as much as bass? i did some gigs in malta (?!) recently, using the only pa kit we could find for hire... we put bass thru the pa cos of the small amp and blew the speakers.

i also had to use a marshall combo because i couldnt afford flight cases for my own gear - it broke within 10minutes of playing and so i went direct into the desk for about one song (always SUCH a REALLY REALLY BAD idea) and then i had to give up for reasons of humiliation.

sambulance · Post by **sambulance** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 12:13 pm

actually, thinking about it now, the gigs were outdoors so that was probably why we blew the speakers, not simply having bass thru them. just make sure they are big enough first!

bass through an ad30htc

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